You def gonna make a beat that will reignite that flame likely

Good balance the perfect teeter totter 🫡

this is what i tell my friend. the issue is they worry waaayy too much about how they're gonna be able to financially support themselves or a future family, because they really wanna have kids and s***. i get it but i mean i try to tell him if you don't let go of this you'll never make it happen... idk

Real, yea its like riding a boat on the ocean, ups an downs

this

Nah man
This s*** is in my flesh

I've been singing and rapping since I was a toddler
Even wrote my first song when I was 5
I always loved performing
Reading/feeling music is just 2nd nature to me

And since I was 17/18 I always had this urge to create and express myself specially musically

Am still making music and will keep doing so
Been signed, 100 best new artists of my country, got great reviews

Nothing is meant to be easy bro
It takes learning

And specially in creative branches u gotta dare to fail
Otherwise u ain't growing
U gotta be all naked man
S*** ain't gonna happen in a week

you sound like me back in 2020

ktt2.com/ngl-im-afraid-guys-29305

long story short i got even better at music since that thread

keep going

And there's so much to do in music, it's almost impossible to have no ideas
Ya just gotta adjust ur mind
Feel and look at things a lil different

Nope, I’lll be doing this still even if literally 0 people are listening.

Being able to create is a blessing within itself

no lol

I been making beats for my own enjoyment forever

Networking and collabing burns me out so bad i stopped sharing my stuff like i used to and stopped trying to get noticed, i like to do it in my own way on my own time, sorry to the rappers and producers i ghosted along the way

i didn't realize It was at all viable to do s*** in real life anymore. I'll definitely tell them to explore that more. they live here in Atlanta and the scene is definitely not what it used to be. even if he does find something like that out here not sure it could translate into anything beyond the city, as it seems like ATL doesn't have reach like it used to. i think he'd do well in nyc or la or somewhere in europe even

this. my friend needs to hear this

got a post for everyone itt hol on

Just practiced with my band today. Working on a new EP

what instrument do u play?

"can't just move to LA and start ghostwriting or something anymore, then joining a sick LA based collective and ride they wave too lol. things aint like they used to be"

why would this be any harder than it was in the past? (apart from obvious financial issues)

Bass! The EP we're currently writing is cool because it's the first project that is the rest of the band writing the music, as opposed to our frontman

I'm trying to bring some sludge influence to this indie s***

The start of this post gon' sound f***ed up but I promise it's a reason for it (warning very long post but most posters ITT I feel f*** with those), but a protip for your friend/others with this mindset: if the sole driving force of your pursuing wanting to do music, is the likeliness and/or potential of being a star/superstar? You should probably just wrap this s*** up tbh.

sidebar: @Noir honestly got the best post in here tbh.

I've never gave up on the idea of doing music. I HAVE however gave up on the idea of "stardom" or 'blowing up" a long time ago.

First off, when we think of music you gotta go back to what was the original point of musi..shit the point of art to begin with? It was to communicate, to entertain, to express your emotions of the heart and the mind. Capital/notoriety was the last thing on alot of them african, greek, whoever niggas minds. Griot music was a way to just tell a story. None of them was hoping to hear "ayo what happened down the street" bumping on the radio.

Somewhere along the line (a looooooong time ago) during introduction of commerce and awarding, we kinda got caught up in the notion of capital and fame being a driving force behind the pursuing of art (and music itself). To shine amongst the many and showcase how perfect we are to stand out. As we all know, perfection is a concept and is unattainable by nature, to obsess over it is mentally and physically unsustainable in itself.

fast forward, we have reached honestly the limits of where that pursuit leads us. For decades we've been fed this idea that in order to succeed you gotta make money. Living in a capitalist system that's what'll do it for ya. For a while, it seems as musicians all you had to do is just be good at making music.

Unfortunately, to chase perfection involves a lot of mental and physical sacrifice that majority of the time comes at the expense of your life. Looking at people like MJ (who I think is the greatest example of what the most successful musician looks like), to me shows a tragic tale of what the music leads you without fulfillment. I wonder what would happen to Michael if he had a regular non-traumatic childhood?

Personally, I believe he still would have done music but at a much later and more adult age. He probably doesn't have the same success as he does now, but he probably is a better and more fulfilled and well adjusted person and above all else, is probably still with us today. This Michael Jackson probably was able to explore other aspects of life that was able to complete him outside of music that would make it possible to not worry about "being perfect"

now @xingu does your friend have any other hobbies or any non-musical activities that complete the other pieces of themselves besides music? It honestly sounds like even if your friend was able to achieve all he wanted, he would still be unhappy tbh. Sounds more like their using music as a sense to placehold for other things missing (which I really hate is a trademark for a lot of "gifted" artists. I long for a world where trauma doesn't have to exist for art to thrive.)

sidenote: I do feel bad for 90s babies that grew up thinking s*** was gonna go one way and growing up to now seeing that adults don't even read anymore. We grew up at the right and wrong time to see everything change. I do see the empathy for folks that feel that culture shock.

My tips about music industry: there is none. This b**** is collapsing. The way it was run for decades was never sustainable tbh and from the artists to the musicians that support said artists, were getting the s*** end of the stick even when things were at it's "percieved" peak. You can watch tv1 unsung for that.

The point of art is to make art. Money/commerce/fame being at the centerfold of people's inspiration is highkey what led to the decline of music (folks seeing it as a check) Your friend needs to readjust and recenter why it is they want to pursue music. If it's to create and put out the matters of their own heart and mind, they should just do it. Who tf cares if it dont get 20k retweets, and who tf cares if it don't break into the mainstream. Most your fav mainstream artists hate the mainstream.

friends I love dearly that get to tour with blankity blank blank superstars have caught panic attacks. They have depression. They're not really happy (and surprisingly are underpaid in the grand scheme of how you would think they would be getting paid by certain artists). This occupation is not the most friendly for your mental or physical health. We lost a good number of well known musicians in their 50s for causes that you can add up to just a lack of being able to take care of yourself on the road.

in conclusion: being in a predatory industry like THIS? I have no interest in making it in said industry. Making music and Performing is great and I'll always love it and do it. But I'm in it because I LOVE to do it. When I want to do it. Meaning my sense of accomplishments/victories come in the sense of "wow I was able to just do this"

I've dropped projects on projects and knowing I was able to compose and arrange and perform a nine piece band arrangement of songs from my EP might've been the most fulfilled I've ever felt.

And niggas aint make a lotta money from this (running a band is always a profit loss). But it don't matter to me why? Cause I can wake up every morning and look and say wow, I did that.

You have to be in this s*** because you love it. That's what all the griots felt when they were singing they stories, they just loved to do it. We got caught up in the "party" of capital/fame and now we're watching it die.

tl;dr: I never gave up doing music but I gave up on blowing up because the sacrifices made to your own health/sanity and even your own musical integrity to do it isn't worth it.

looking forward to hearing it

got to tell your friend that you either gotta grind online hard af and go viral, or you have to show yourself outside and go to events and ish - ideally you do a mix of both

there is no way around it besides those two

and if you live in "nowhere" that doesnt have a strong local scene, then you need to either go hard online and/or move to an area that is "relevant" and put yourself out there outside that is good for your genre

honestly the "easiest" way to get anywhere is still good ol showing up to things irl and seeing what happens

atlanta, new york, LA, bayarea, chicago, nashvile or miami are the big major ones - then you have little bridge areas like phx az, detroit mi, philly, houston texas, memphis and a few others that usually have a strong local scene and also contacts to the bigger cities/states

honestly one of the best things to look at is how @hadjigaviota has been moving around over the last few years and how he gets to places and people - he usually almost always answers questions an talks to the best he can. he is a real life current example of making sumn happen and connecting with the "wider industry" while being an active member here.

but yeah, tl:dr: you either gotta go hard af online, or hard af irl - and whatever one you pick as the main focus, you still gottsa give attention to the other option here n there. its not easy and called a grind for a reason.

and actually having projects and/or a portfolio is a major + and is taken more serious. not just random loosies or only snippets while "waiting for the moment". the "industry" usually likes to help those that are already helping themselves.

and every want to be artist has top go thru the period they realize nothing will be giving to you and nothing is owed to you. you have to go get it. it is not gonna magically appear in your room or your dms one random day.

the "industry" nowadays also wants people, young or old, that are multi capable and/or have some kind of idea already together.

that is why its usually easier to get in as also a producer, and especially way easier as also an engineer.

90% of the time "the industry" is not looking to develop or raise an artist from the ground like way back. now that doesnt mean you have to have a million followers or whatever all on your lonesome, BUT, if you dont have a million followers, then you need to already know what youre doing and have some sort of already goal that just need sthe machine to push it and prop it up.

you have to already be doing something before you get anything. if you get anything.

it also shows them youre already serious, and already have some kind of work ethic and responsibility even if it isnt that successful on its own.

Also niggas gotta stop hyperfocusing on age so much lol.

If it’s yo time it’ll be yo time no matter you 30 or 20 or 40.

Here's our previous stuff

ktt2.com/my-band-released-its-first-song-in-over-4-years-give-it-a-listen-32575110

Follow along for any updates

i think everyone who makes music gives up on music, the question is do they come back to it?

I'm going to add on to what I wrote before by telling a little bit of my story.

I started making music in my dad's basement recording studio when I was 13. He was in bands for years and I looked up to him for that. All I did for a while was record s***ty covers and a few improvised originals that were horrible, but I did keep at it and got a lot better. I found a couple people online to collab with and we wrote a few things. Eventually, I took over that project entirely and, in total, I put out 5 legit albums under that alias between 2007 and 2012.

Once my (now ex) wife and I moved to California in 2014, I pretty much gave up on music. I put my effort into other projects, focused on college and never wrote another song until 2019. Once the pandemic hit, I had all the time in the world and realized that songwriting scratched an itch that writing screenplays, short stories and novels could not and I got back into it. I started recording demos, playing open mics and meeting people in LA. It was starting to happen. But I hit a wall.

One of the reasons I broke up with my wife was the time I needed to invest in music for me, personally, to feel I was getting anywhere, was too large to balance with saving a relationship that was already on the rocks. We were going in different directions and it was clear that our goals were incompatible. She hated LA and I had a great job there, as well as renewed purpose. I attacked my new situation. There were periods over the past year when, 4 to 5 days out of the week, I would go straight from the high school I teach at to a gig, rehearsal space, studio, whatever, and not be home until midnight or later. I didn't sleep much.

But holy s*** was I happy. Really, truly happy. And that's what I hoped would be the eventually be case when I moved into a 4 bedroom house with two musicians who I consider very close friends. We have our own recording studio and have already played house shows in the living room. It's the kind of space that's conducive to creativity; I wrote 12 songs last year alone when I had barely considered the idea from 2015-2019.

You sacrifice a lot for your craft though, if you love it. I have a 6 year old daughter who I only see a few months out of the year these days. She alternates between LA and Chicago. She's with her mom right now, where she's living a good life, but I miss her terribly. She loves my music and is glad that I'm pursuing it. One of my dreams is to pull her out of school and take her on the road with me whenever my band tours. She'd have an amazing time and would see me doing what I love most.

The first live show I played with a full band was with my roommate at this club in West Hollywood back in April. I was really tense leading up to it, but something told me it was going to work out. Within 30 seconds on that stage, I realized what I had been missing out on. It was one hell of a hit being up there.

After two songs, my roommate did an acoustic number and the rest of the band went off to the side. The adrenaline was coursing through me and I started tearing up. It's kind of embarrassing, but I had to let it out a bit. I had given up so much and had no idea if I was going to love being on stage, at least enough to justify the decisions I'd made. I felt like everything was riding on that gig. But man, I really loved it. I really did. I crouched down next to our drummer, who now is in my band and produced our album, and said "I didn't know I would like it this much," tears running down my face. And he smiled and nodded, having learned the same thing a long time ago after years of playing in different bands.

The question I leave you with is: how bad do you want this music thing? What are you willing to sacrifice for it? For me, it's not about fame. I'm going to be 34 years old in February. The most success I'm likely to ever see in the industry is a background role in songwriting, production or session work. But I don't do it for that. I do it because I love it more than anything else I could be doing. It's in my blood, I grew up with it, and I can't escape it. I don't want to. I'm proud of what I've accomplished and view my goals as worthy, admirable and achievable.

But that's just me. You gotta do you.